Fort Myers girls hoops headed back to Lakeland

After Friday night's 50-37 win over Charlotte, Fort Myers punched their ticket to Lakeland for the fifth straight year in a row.

Friday, February 22nd 2019, 11:41 PM EST by Andrew McDevitt

FORT MYERS, Fla. - After Friday night's 50-37 win over Charlotte, Fort Myers punched their ticket to Lakeland for the fifth straight year in a row.

The Green Wave is coming off of three straight state championships, and with two wins next week in the RP Funding Center, Fort Myers would become the first team from Southwest Florida to ever four-peat as state champs.

"It’s the coolest thing that I can imagine, and I can’t wait to try to do it," said senior forward Riley Ludlam after her final game in the Wave Cave. "I have spent three years playing and practicing in this gym almost every day for six months out of the year, and it’s very sad to know that this is my last time playing in this atmosphere. I couldn’t have asked for anything better than to go out on top."

But the star of the night was sophomore Chaniya Clark who racked up a triple-double with points, blocks and rebounds.

Clark, who was fired up post-game, had a message for the doubters who did not expect the Green Wave to make it back to this point after losing key players from last year's team.

"Y’all can’t doubt us if we lose two people, because Fort Myers is always going to come back even harder," Clark said.

Her head coach echoed those sentiments.

"Nobody really expected us to be here this year, to be honest with you. You know you lose an all-American, you lose a couple of D1 players. It just makes this one that much more sweet," said Chad Terrell. "It’s a great feeling to actually get our seniors, to get a regional final game at home to send them out on a good note. We haven’t had that in the last four years, so it was awesome to get that tonight."

The Green Wave's state semifinal matchup will take place on Friday at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland. Tip-off is slated for noon against the Nease Panthers from Punta Verde who are 28-1 on the year.